CGIAR Research Program on
Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS)
Organisational Baseline Study:
Overview Report for Bagerhat, Bangladesh
(BA0416)
September 2013
Written by: Rachel Stern
Interviews and original report by: Mashihur Rahman and Marina Juthi
INTRODUCTION
This is a report of the Organisational Baseline Survey carried out in March of 2013. The interviews were
conducted at 10 organisations that were working or collaborating with farmers and/or the community of
Bagerhat, Bangladesh. The Bagerhat research site lies in the southwest coastal area of Bangladesh and is
extremely vulnerable to natural disasters like tropical cyclones, floods, and salinity issues. Some of the
main crops in the area are paddy rice, wheat, jute, and sugarcane. Shrimp cultivation is also an important
economic activity.
CCAFS' organisational-level baseline studies supplement the quantitative household baseline surveys and
the qualitative village baseline studies at the same locations.
The objectives of the organisational baseline study are to:
 Provide indicators to allow us to monitor changes in behaviours and practices of locally relevant
organisations over time
 Understand the provision of information/services at the local level that informs farmers’ decision
making about their livelihood strategies in response to climate change
ORGANISATIONS INTERVIEWED
Prior to this organisational study, CCAFS conducted a participatory village study within the Bagerhat site.
Participants of the village study were asked to create an institutional landscape of their community by
listing the most important organisations that were active in the area and then providing information on
how they were involved in the community. Specifically, the participants were asked which organisations
were involved in food security activities, food crisis situations, and natural resource management (NRM)
work. CCAFS then took this list of organisations and provided it to the interviewers conducting the
Organisational Baseline Survey. The interviewers were given leeway to eliminate an organisation they
believed was not relevant and to add any organisations that may have been left out of the village study
discussions.
10 of the organisations listed by participants in the village survey were selected for interview. No
additional organisations seem to have been added and if any were eliminated, no reason was given.
Tabulated below is the list of organisations:
Organisation
Main areas of activity
BWDB (Bangladesh
Water Development
Board)
CODEC (Community
Development Centre)
is focused on water related issues. It works to solve the problems of flooding and to
prevent loss of life and property. BWDB also engages in dialogue with India for
sharing water from common rivers.
implements activities for the social, economic and cultural improvement of poor
women's groups in the coastal belt area. The organisation prioritises micro credit,
provides poultry and sewing training, as well as implementing a Household
Economic and Food Security of Extreme Poor project.
aims to provide technical information regarding fishery and shrimp culture to pond
or ghat owners, fish farmers, cooperatives, traders and depots. Provide technical
training to NGOs and the private sector.
DoFi (Department of
Fisheries)
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DoFr (Department of
Forest)
DoL (Department of
Livestock)
GB (Grameen Bank)
LGED (Local
Government Engineering
Department)
UDDIPAN (United
Development Initiatives
for Programmed Actions)
UZP (Upazila Parishad)
WATI (Women's
Agricultural Training
Institute)
focuses on tree plantation and the provision of plants at low prices. They also create
nurseries where they offer training and raise awareness in the community.
provides support service to community farmers, livestock entrepreneurs and traders,
including: vaccinations, veterinary service, breeding, artificial insemination, credit
and feed. They also monitor livestock activities in the area.
is a financial development institute, 95% of which is owned by poor women's
groups. The main function of the bank is micro credit operations for empowering
women's access to resources and decision making.
develops and manages local infrastructure for increasing farm/non-farm production,
generating employment, improving socio-economic conditions?, promoting local
governance, reducing poverty and acting as an agent of change at the local level
According to the interviewers this branch is focused on a credit program and thus
busy with loan operations.
is a local government institution established to decentralise administration, enhance
local planning, mobilize local resources, generate employment, improve
infrastructure and governance, and develop strategies for coping with natural
disasters.
helps women to develop new skills and access new technologies to generate self
employment and be empowered.
Impediments:
The following organisations declared that, due to shortages, they were or would soon be unable to
fulfil certain responsibilities. Their statements regarding this fact were not specific enough to omit
activities which are not being implemented. Thus, all activities which they mention have been included,
but readers should be aware that some are likely to have been stopped.
WATI was initially donor funded but is now completely funded by the government Annual
Development Programme (ADP). The team stated that their ADP budget for training is very small and
that most of the staff is not staying in the institute.
BWDB said that it is now underutilized due to a shortage of funding, manpower and donor
projects.
DoL asserted that demands for livestock services could not be fulfilled by this office due to
shortages of manpower and lack of support services (equipments, vaccines, medicines, transport and so
on). Population growth is increasing demand for livestock services, exacerbating the shortages. The
interviewee stated that the DoL's ADP funding was too low and that the livestock products they receive
are insufficient and of poor quality. Furthermore, the Daibogohati (a village within Bagerhat) union
livestock office is said to not be running well due to a shortage of manpower and resources. This union
livestock office has just one veterinary field assistant.
SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES
None of the organisations directly mention climate change in their goals or activities. Activities
within the following categories may be considered to be indirectly related to the effects of climate change
and possible adaptation strategies.
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Natural resource management:
In the Bangladesh Bagerhat region the most common natural resource management activities are
agroforestry, prevention of soil erosion and deterioration, and water management. These seem to be
implemented in an effort to improve livelihoods in the face of frequent flooding and are not specified as
being related to climate change.
Within agroforestry, organisations partake in a variety of activities. Unsurprisingly, the most
entrenched in these activities is the DoFr which does afforestation, social forestation, plants nurseries, and
builds capacity among its beneficiaries through training and technical support in quality sapling
production, tree plantation and tree management. Meanwhile LGED, UDDIPAN and WATI make mention
of tree plantation in their activities. GB, WATI and BWDB plant nurseries, and BWDB promotes social
forestation.
While many organisations implement the above agroforestry activities to prevent soil erosion and
deterioration, some go further. The BWDB states that it also maintains and improves coastal
embankments to protect against tidal surges, erosion and to reclaim land from the sea. The DoFr works to
improve soil quality through activities such as the preparation of compost fertilizer. WATI provides
training on enhancing soil fertility, reducing the salinity of the soil, and conserving the ecosystem and
biodiversity by reducing the use of chemicals. Finally, the DoL promotes and carries out fodder
production in homestead areas degraded by salinity to improve and protect soil fertility.
The leader in water management is the BWDB, which measures water levels, the river situation,
seasonal variability and salinity levels. BWDB also protects against salinity intrusion in agricultural lands
and sweet water canals. Both the BWDB and the LGED are involved in re-excavating and maintaining
canals, enhancing canal connectivity, as well as enhancing drainage, including the operation and
maintenance of sluice gates and boxes. Both also practice water management through cooperative
participation. UP is responsible for implementing and monitoring most of the aforementioned LGED and
BWDB projects.
UDDIPAN focuses on safe, arsenic-free drinking water and water filtering to reduce salinity, as
well as, rainwater harvesting. GB is involved in water management, including small scale irrigation from
canals and the supply of drinking water from ponds. WATI teaches pond sand filtration. DoFi is involved
in the management of ponds, gher and water for fish production (including sweet water conservation for
carp fish production).
Preparation to withstand extreme events:
The extreme events that demand attention in this area are floods and cyclones. These are frequent
and severe enough that nine of the ten interviewed organisation have activities to address them.
Again, the BWDB is central to efforts. It provides flood forecasting and early warning, and also
maintains the monsoon bulletin. BWDB and LGED both work on improving flood and cyclone shelters to
enhance disaster preparedness. Again, these projects appear to be implemented by UP which is also
responsible for a donor funded project to raise awareness of natural disasters in the community.
Both the GB and UP raise houses to protect them from natural disasters, the latter also raises
embankments to protect lives and crops from tidal surges, as does BWDB. CODEC focuses on reducing
risk and vulnerability to natural disasters by facilitating preparedness and managing a disaster fund.
UDDIPAN facilitates a disaster risk reduction program and provides natural disaster relief, particularly
food for children.
The DoFr promotes the plantation of salinity, flood and cyclone resistant trees and plants, fruit
trees, medicinal plants. The DoFi protects fish from flooding and other natural disasters, while the DoL
offers awareness training on livestock safety and protection from natural disasters
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Reduction of risk due to climate variability:
This category appears much less serviced than the above. The primary effort to mitigate the
effects of climate variability seems to be increasing diversity of livelihood activities. Thus, people are
being encouraged to integrate and pursue a combination of agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry,
fish or shrimp culture, fruit tree management and other income generating activities. The DoFi,
UDDIPAN, CODEC, GB and WATI make particular mention of providing support, training or
information in a variety of these areas and their integration. DoFr is working to develop awareness of
climate effects on plantations.
Activities' Relationship to Climate Change:
The organizations in this region make virtually no mention of climate change; however, their
focus on climate related activities is high. This seems to be out of necessity, resulting from the region
being under a great deal of stress due to its climate. The implemented climate change related activities
seem to be attempts to cope with the current situation and mitigate the impact of natural disasters.
The UP expresses an acute awareness of changes in the area, stating that cyclone Sidr in 2007
heated up the area. The interviewee goes on to explain how erosion and increasing salinity have driven
out agriculture in favour of shrimp cultivation. He finishes by stating that the increasing salinity in the
area is increasing the vulnerability of farmers who will likely move away in search of livelihood security.
Under its credit program UDDIPAN has been implementing a green environment program with a
focus on: plantation, solar system installation, biogas installation and improved cooking stoves (ICS)
installation. However, it is not being implemented at the branch where the interview took place and staff
at the branch stated that they are not being trained in climate change theory.
The GB interviewee makes mention of the fact that one of its related organisation: Grameen
Shakti is promoting biogas installation, installation solar energy, improved cooking stoves (ICS).
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